It has left Portland and other cities in riots and vigils, and has brought to the forefront deep philosophical schisms in our nation that previously had been contained by what now appears to have been nothing more than a deceivingly thin veil of civility.

In Oregon’s political landscape, not much is likely to change in the support we hold in Salem or the challenges we face from traditional opposition. Both the Oregon House and Senate retained Democratic majorities, along with electing current Democratic Governor Kate Brown to complete the term vacated by Governor Kitzhaber. There will be many new faces to educate about naturopathic medicine, but we are well poised to introduce sweeping legislation to modernize various statutes to be consistent with the current ND scope of practice.

In the national landscape, things will be more challenging but also with its own set of opportunities. Naturopathic medicine has never been about progressives or conservatives, blue or red, rural or urban. Given the populist wave that elected Donald Trump and returned the GOP to House and Senate control, our message will be that naturopathic care is both cost-effective and ground-up, patient centered care – as it always has been. This could win our profession new allies in Congress and in state legislatures across the nation.

AANP, with participation from OANP through Laura’s position on the AANP Board, will proceed with priority issues that impact all NDs in Oregon and beyond, including:

• Gaining NDs employment in the VA.
• Seeking to initiate a pilot project to study the impact that NDs might have in Medicare.
• Working with Congress, which may be more sympathetic now than previously, to rein in the overstepping reach of the FDA’s actions to limit access to compounded medications.

Your membership dollars go directly toward advocacy efforts and everything OANP is doing to increase your opportunities for employment and practice success. Please ask your colleagues who are not OANP members to join today. After such a bruising campaign, nobody can afford to stay silent anymore, or to pretend that someone else will take care of it. Join OANP today to take advantage of these opportunities to drive change forward, instead of getting mired in the upheaval.